Topic: General

Following months of pressure from service workers advocacy groups, Apple is set to end its reliance on external security vendors and will begin hiring security personnel as full-time employees, entitling them to many of the same benefits granted to other Apple workers.

Google is poised to lose billions in annual revenue if Apple does not renew a deal making Google the default search engine in iOS, according to a new memo by analysts at UBS, which attempts to predict the real-world impact of such a decision.

Pebble on Tuesday announced a steel version of its upcoming Pebble Time smartwatch, as well as a new expandable accessory port called "smartstrap" that could add functions such as GPS or heart rate monitoring.

At a hearing on Monday, District Court Judge Lucy Koh appeared satisfied with a $415 million proposal from Apple, Google and two other Silicon Valley tech companies to settle allegations that anti-poaching agreements artificially capped employee wages.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche and the CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Carlos Ghosn, have each adopted radically different stances on rumors of a so-called Apple Car, with the former dismissing the idea and the latter welcoming it as a boost to Renault-Nissan's business.

The mobile payment industry continues to see shakeups this week, as PayPal has announced it will acquire Paydiant, a mobile wallet developer with clients including MCX -- the consortium behind retailer-driven Apple Pay competitor CurrentC.

Speaking at a Mobile World Congress keynote on Monday, Google's senior vice president of products, Sundar Pichai, confirmed earlier speculation and announced that the company is planning to launch its own carrier service with more details set to be announced in the coming months.

Apple CEO Tim Cook waxed nostalgic about his relationship with the late Steve Jobs, reiterated the company's commitment to its customers' privacy, and discussed his thoughts on Apple's ability to influence social change during a sit-down with German tabloid BILD earlier this week.

In an interview published on Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook reaffirmed his commitment to customer data privacy, saying most consumers likely do not know how dire the situation is, but will be "very offended" when they find out.

Whether intentionally timed or just a matter of coincidence, Apple's just-announced March 9 event is likely to overshadow the Mobile World Congress mega-conference in Barcelona, which will take place the preceding week.

The latest AppleInsider podcast is now available to download and subscribe in iTunes or SoundCloud, with detailed analysis of this week's news, including Apple's invitations to a March 9 media event, the FCC voting to enforce net neutrality, Pebble funding its new smartwatch using Kickstarter (again), Google buying Softcard, and more.

Mobile systems heavyweight Ericsson plans to escalate its patent licensing case against Apple with a salvo of federal lawsuits and U.S. International Trade Commission complaints, requesting both damages and injunctions against the Cupertino company's devices.

Former Apple executive Ron Johnson, who cultivated the highly successful Apple Store retail initiative, is leading a $16 million investment round for online retailer Nasty Gal, marking his return to the fashion industry.

A handful of recent Apple corporate job postings suggest the company is experimenting with virtual and augmented reality hardware and software, an area of intense interest some believe will be the next tech battleground.

In its first ever quarterly study, customer service analytics firm StellaService ranked Apple as the fastest and most most efficient online retailer in terms of shipments for the fourth quarter of 2014, taking an average of 2.5 days to send out orders.